Safety transmission lock



Jan. 14, 1930, NELSON J 1,743,916

SAFETY TRANSMI S S ION LOCK Original Filed April 24, "1928 Inventor @91 Iela'on/ M Attofng Patented Jan. 14, 1930 EGERY NELSON, or VINIElLAND, NEW JERSEY SAFETY TRANSMISSION LOCK Application filed April 24, 1928, Serial No. 2*?"2369. Renewed November 27, 1929..

The present invention relates to improve ments in automobile locks and has for its primary object to provide a simple and eflicient means for normally holding the gear shift lever in a locked position, so that said 15 ping of the gears and other injuries being caused.

One of the important objects of the present invention is to provide a safety transmission lock that can be readily and easily installed 26' on automobiles provided with gearshift locks, without necessitating any alterations of the parts ofthe automobile with which the present invention is associated.

A M A still furtherobject of the invention is to provide a device of the above mentioned character which will at all times be positive and etlicient in its operation, the same being further simple in construction, inexpensive, strong andidurable, and further Well adapted to the purpose for which it is designed.

In the accompanying drawing, forming a part of this application, and in which like reference characters designate like parts throughout the several views:

Figure 1 is a top plan view of the device embodying myinvention showing the same mounted on the transmission housing and connected to the clutch pedal or lever.

Figure 2 is a side elevation thereof, and,

Figure 3 is a detail perspective view of a lock engaging member forming an important part of the present invention.

In the drawing, wherein for the purpose of illustration is shown the preferred embodiment of my invention, the numeral 1 designates the transmission housing, the gear shift lever that extends upwardly from the housing being shown at 2. The usual clutch member is illustrated at 3, and as is well known in the art, when the clutch is decreek levee pressed, the gear shift lever 2 may be free to be: shifted into operative engageme t with the transmission mechanism in the housing 1, not shown. 7

Certain types of automobiles are provided with locking devics for the gear shift lever, and such a locking devic is shown at 4, the same being arranged in the base 5, provided for the gear shift lever 2, and this locking member eqis adapted for vertical movement and m be operated with a key, if desired. The loch is so actuated that when the same is in its tlewri'wardly iiieved positi n, the gearshift lever 2 is locked against shifting, while, when the lock is in its uppermost position, the gear shift levermay be freely operated to shift the gears.

In the present instance,- I have shown the lie}; positioned in the vertically movable In the resent invention, it is designed to make impossible-the moving of the gear shift lever until" the eliitch is depressed, thus male it absolutely necessary for the driver to follow the correct procedure and shift the gears. Tothis end, I provide the bell crank lever which is pivoted as at 8". on the side of the transmission housing 1. The depend in'garm is formed at its lower end with a laterally disposed apertured ear 9, through so which extends the threaded end' of the rod 1T0, the latter being operatively' connected at its forward ehd to the pivoted clutch as at 11 A thumb nut 12 is threaded, on the threaded-end of theroa for engagement with 95- the sicle'of the aperturedear, and this rod provides an operative eeiiheetioh be tween the clutch and the bell crank lever, as clearly shown Figures.

Forming a salient part of the present invention is the horizontally disposed-bar 13, that extends across the top of the base 5, the inner endof this ha r being termed with an invertedhu shaped keyengaging stirrup 1 4- A red 1 5 depends fromthe outer end of this 'bar, and-the lower end of this rod is bent to form an inwardly directed foot 16, thatis ofper vely connected to the outer end of th'e'hoi'izontally disposed arm of the ten tot A retractile coil spring 17 is secured at its upper end to the outer end portion of the horizontal arm of the bell crank lever 7, the

other end of this retractile coil spring being secured to the side of the transmission housing 1, and thisarrangement is also clearly shown in Figure2.

\Vith the parts arranged as shown in Fig ure 2, the clutch is in an engaged position, and the lock 4 i held downwardly by the action of the stirrup 14 in the bell crank lever 7, with which the retractile coil spring 17 cooperates, so that the gear shift lever cannot be shifted until the clutch 3 is depressed and manifestly when the clutch is depressed, a forward pull is exerted on the rod 10, which will cause the bell crank lever 7 to swing on its pivot 8, whereby to raise the rod 15 and the horizontal bar 13, upwardly, to disengage the stirrup 14 from the key 6, whereby to permit the lock 4: to move upwardly, whereby to unlock the gear shift lever and permit the latter to be moved to the desired position.

As soon as the operator releases his foot from the clutch, the parts will again assume the position shown in Figure 2 and thus the gear shift lever 2 will be locked in engaged position.

The provision of a safety transmission lock of the above mentioned character, will make it absolutely necessary for the driver to disengage the cluteh before the gear shift lever can be operated, thus preventing any injury being caused to the transmission mechanism.

While I have shown the preferred embodiment of my invention, it is to be understood that various changes in the size, shape and arrangement of parts may be resorted to, without departing from the spirit of the invention and the scope of the appended claim.

Having thus described my invention, What I claim as new is:

In combination with the clutch pedal, the gear shift lever of a transmission, and a lock for normally holding the gear shift lever in an engaged position, of means cooperating with the lock and the clutch to release said lock and permit the actuation of the gear shift lever when the clutch is depressed, said means comprising a lock engaging member, a bell crank lever pivotally secured on the side of the transmission housing, one of the arms of the bell crank lever being disposed horizon tally and secured at its outer end to the lock engaging member, a rod operatively connecting the other arm of the bell crank lever with the clutch whereby said lock engaging member is raised upwardly to an inoperative position when the clutch pedal is depressed, and a retractile coil spring for normally urging the lock engaging member downwardly to hold the lock in its lowermost position, said lock engaging. member comprising a bar disposed horizontally above the top of the trans EGERY NELSON. 

